Oil

Brent crude soared to $87.92 a barrel, marking an increase of almost 4%, whereas U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude experienced a rise of 4.16%, reaching $86.23 a barrel.

Climate change activist and former United States Vice President Al Gore has declared war against the fossil fuel industry, accusing oil companies of using the atmosphere at their own disposal.

U.S. District Judge James Cain of the Western District of Louisiana issued an injunction against the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) efforts to reduce offshore oil drilling by an estimated 6 million acres.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently said non-sugar sweeteners are ineffective for weight loss and "possibly carcinogenic."

California is suing oil companies for "deceiving" the public on how their fossil fuels contributed to climate change.

The identities of the Iranian prisoners are unknown.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi appeared in an interview with NBC to discuss the prisoner swap between Iran and the United States.

On international climate agreements, Trump reaffirmed his stance, declaring he would "once again exit the horrendously unfair Paris Climate Accords" and stand against "the radical left’s Green New Deal policies."

The BRICS consortium (comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) is set to see its share in global GDP jump to 30% in January 2024.

The good news is the crisis could lead to a return to limited constitutional government, a true free-market economy free of corporations and cronyism, a foreign policy based on peace and free trade, and a free-market monetary system.